Atheists think that a prayer to God is sheer imagination. But for centuries, thousands of sincere practitioners have accumulated definite evidence of the positive results of prayer. The serious doubt regarding prayer is not whether God can hear and respond, but whether the things people pray for are worthwhile. According to St. Teresa of Avila. “More tears are shed in this world from prayers that are answered than from those that go unanswered.” Those who pray, therefore, need more than the con
All Posts (36804)
Sort by
By Madhava Smullen
A new paperback edition of “Hope This Meets You in Good Health,” a book by ISKCON guru and Prabhupada disciple Prahladananda Swami, is now available on Amazon.com and on Barnes & Noble’s website in English. The book has also been translated into Spanish, Polish and Russian.
The title “Hope This Meets You in Good Health” is derived both from Srila Prabhupada’s famous sign-off on his letters, and from a magazine of the same name which Prahladananda Swami published for two de
The day was irresistible at ten degrees Celsius, with the sun beckoning. Spontaneously, I decided to pick up the mrdunga drum, get a ride, and do some chanting in Kensington during that fabulous window of opportunity. It may be the only day left for such freedom, before Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, sets in.
I began to chant, with the sun on my back and my two arms in sufficient motion to get the rest of me warm. The chanting, I kept low key. I believed it would do its own mag
Nārikelaphalāṁbu (coconut water)
By nature's miracle the coconut has a tasty juice, very nourishing and healthy for that matter, inside of it.
Once coming to India from Europe, I told my little daughter that in India grows a juice in cans on the trees. She laughed saying, “How is that?” When she saw coconuts on the top of the palms, and tasted coconut juice she understood. This is just very simple example of so called miracles of nature. The atheists don't like to admit that this and the rest of t
By Pancharatna das
It’s been just over a year since we launched the completed Chantnow.com on Radhastami, 17th September 2018 and the results have been very encouraging.
We began with an experimental Facebook advertising campaign that resulted in a surge of 275 people enrolling in our 7 day Chanting workshop at an advertising cost of just about $1 each. We knew we could generate student enrollments, but could we keep them progressing?
To focus on student services, we then turned to fine-tuning o
By Kesava Krsna dasa
Have we ever embellished a telling of a lie with an assortment of trivial details to disguise the actual truth? Have we ever pretended to be someone we never were, by exuding a persona larger than ourselves? Are there any angels among us who can boldly claim to have never fibbed; ever – even to get out of an awkward situation?
The truth is out; there are no foolproof ways of telling if someone is lying or not. Shifty eyes, truth drugs and lie detectors can provide clues bu
By Madhava Smullen
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, devotees at ISKCON Boise, Idaho launched a new annual “Festival of Gratitude” this year, with the motto: “Appreciating Deity, Devotee, Nama, Dhama, Bhagavatam.”
“We wanted to focus on inspiring gratitude for Srila Prabhupada and the processs that he’s given us,” says Bhakta Nathen Wanty, who came up with the idea for the festival and co-organized it. “And with the gratitude gained from attending this festival, we hoped devotees would become m
It struck me, that right across the street from where I live, there's a shop which sells clothing for women. And in the window display, there are two mannequins decked out in the latest fashionable apparel. I couldn't help but take a picture of the display, because it said to me, "We don't walk!"
I actually found it humourous, at the thought, and carried on with my own stroll along with Jaya. I will caption them as ‘Anti-Walkers’ because essentially they don't move. Anyway, what to expect
Worries about terrorism, escalating healthcare and living costs, global warming, nuclear proliferation, and widespread violence are just a few of the concerns that plague people around the world. People everywhere are looking for peace, prosperity and happiness, but in Kali Yuga, these things are hard to find.
Fortunately, however, everyone can get relief from all material pangs by participating in Lord Caitanya’s Sankirtana movement. Sankirtana, the congregational chanting of the holy names, s
By Deena Bandhu Das
Today we celebrated the 10th Disappearance anniversary of my very dear Godbrother Vibhu Chaitanya Prabhu.
A real Vaishnava, but unknown to most devotees. He worked tirelessly from 2 am to 10pm in Krishna Balarama’s kitchen for many years singing all the while. In fact, Srila Prabhupada told him that he didn’t have to chant his rounds, just sing and cook. His kachoris were out of this world!! When he couldn’t cook anymore due to old age, he distributed caranamrita with incred
By Bhakta Gurmann Saini
During this year of anniversary of 35 years, ISKCON Finland is not only preparing for Srila Prabhupada Book Distribution Marathon, but also trying to secure the future of the Krishna temple and our headquarters in Malmi, Helsinki (Vanha Helsingintie 14, 00700 Helsinki, Finland).
The City of Helsinki has promised to sell to ISKCON the land where the present temple building lies. The size of the land is 0.6 hectares, and the price is 300 000 €. The price is much lower f
Mercy means we are increasing our relationship with Krsna.
This quote is part of the morning class on Srimad Bhagavatam 4.25.50. Kadamba Kanana Swami was in Melbourne on the 21st of Nov 2019.
Anita Sharma was just a little girl when she and her parents and two brothers started coming around. Her dad and mum came from the Punjab, and the family is now in their third generation here.
Successful? Yes! When she mentioned she has a nephew who's now a doctor, I was quite surprised how fast everything evolves with the generations.
Does she have her own family? I asked her and she smiled and said something about "updating." Anyway, she's married to her career as an anchor/reporte
One year on Gita Jayanti, the day on which Lord Krishna spoke the Bhagavad-gita to Arjuna, I heard a talk in which Srila Prabhupada spoke about the perfection of reading the Gita.
“When Lord Chaitanya was traveling in South India, in a big temple, Ranganatha temple, He went to see the Deity, and He saw one brahmana was reading Bhagavad-gita. And people were joking with him, ‘Oh, Mr. Brahmana, how you are reading Bhagavad-gita?’ Because they were neighbors, they knew that this brahmana was illit
This is the anniversary day commemorating the day that Srimad Bhagavad Gita was spoken by Lord Sri Krishna to His dearmost devotee Arjuna at the place now known as Jyotisar Tirtha amid the waring families of the Kurus and the Pandavas at Kurukshetra.
If one wishes one can still go and visit that place and see the monument erected there with Krishna as Parthasarati (the chariot driver) and Arjuna the warrior on their chariot. It is claimed by the ashram who maintain the shrine that the tree tha
From Bhaktivinoda's autobiography:
"After returning to the house [in Calcutta ] I went to Surabhikunja. We also performed a lot of sankeertan there. In Krishna Nagar there were many societies and I began to lecture [to them]. Monroe Saheb, Gupta Saheb, Reverends Walace and Butler all heard me lecture. After the rains Mahendra Mama became seriously ill in Dinajpur.
***
"Commisioner Saheb came to Krishna Nagar and advised me to work a little longer. I gave him my thanks, but I had no desire to contin
Don’t we just delight in books and movies wherein destruction wreaks havoc in one form or other, be it by nuclear bombs, disease, twisters, volcanic eruptions, giant creatures or alien invaders. If you do, then you’ll love The World Without Us, authored by Alan Weisman. Reviewed by Janet Maslin in The Arts section of the August 13th NYT, the book is a “what if” account of what would happen to the world if mankind would suddenly disappear.
How long would our cities and achievements last without
From Back to Godhead
An artist realizes his dream of finding the perfect form.
During my school days in the 1960s, it wasn’t difficult to see that the modern education system was a kind of slaughterhouse for the mind and intellect, a place where individuals were reduced to packaged goods to be consumed by an exploitative society. At age fourteen I decided to become an artist/naturalist, which meant spending lots of time absent from school but present in my local library, and explor
Why is Sankirtan the prime benediction of this age?
Every day morning, after Mangla Arthi, Srila Prabhupada quote will be read! Being book marathon month, to inspire and motivate devotees to push the book distribution, we read Srila Prabhupada quote on book distribution.
Today’s quote is a beautiful letter to German disciples in the month of May 1977, where Srila Prabhupada explains how much blessings is showered even when one simply touches and sees it, what to speak of reading, distributing a
This morning was a time to look forward to, for the seven of us - Nicholas, Pariksit, David, Oksana plus her two kids, and myself. It was the first visit for most of us to Vishal's farm. What a treat! Vishal was generous with kisses to the young bull (I forget his name). He walked us to the foundation of his barn. To follow will be a house and greenhouse. Who knows what more?
Part two of our day's anticipation was a seven kilometre walk on the Great Trail. The most excited among us was
